All the Truths in the World
by Crystalline Sunset
Summary: One-shot written for school. After the flight of Jonas, the Council of Elders decides to eliminate the job of Receiver for ever. The Giver is to be released, and he writes a letter to a little girl with pale eyes, containing all the truths in the world.


_**All the Truths in the World**_

* * *

Lily could see that Jonas wasn't in the auditorium. 

There was the old man, the Receiver of Memory, Jonas's mentor, sitting with the other Elders of the community, but Jonas wasn't with him. And Asher was over with his parents and the other adults. Her own parents sat far away, searching the crowd of people from where they sat, looking worried. She sat back in her own chair, marked Twenty-one, frustrated that she couldn't go to them.

They had been irritated this morning, especially when Jonas had not come back as he had promised. Now he'd be late for the Ceremony. _He'd better be here for mine!_

Lily sat up as the Chief Elder took the stage for the first time in a year. She began the naming ceremony as usual, the Nurturers bringing up the newchildren who would be given to their family units to raise. Her father had joined them now, and he was holding a sleeping newchild wrapped in a blanket. The Chief Elder listed off the names for the newchildren: Jacob, Maria, George, Lynne…

"Number five…" Called out the Chief Elder. Her father got up and walked to the top of the podium. The newchild was given the name Leah and given to her parents. A young boy, maybe a Four or a Five, stood with them, barely as high as their knees. Lily wondered if Jonas had looked like that when Lily had first been given to their family unit.

The naming went on. Lily was delighted at the excitement and variety the naming ceremony offered, and she was reminded again and again of how unique she was with her name. She felt a little prick of regret when Gabriel's number came and went, but the newchild was not there. At the end, when all thirty-eight newchildren had been given to their new family units, a door opened in the back of the Auditorium and a tall male rushed in, walking quickly down the aisle between the rows of seats. He came up to the podium and whispered to the Chief Elder for a few moments. When he finished, she scuttled back down and out of the Auditorium. A few whispers flitted through the crowd, and Lily was intrigued.

The Chief Elder cleared her throat, then said, "We have discovered something important today. A newchild was reported missing this morning, one that was to be released named Gabriel. According to our information, we have arrived at the conclusion that the training Receiver of Memory, Jonas, has taken him away to Elsewhere. He hasn't been seen since yesterday. If we are correct, Jonas is the one who took the leftover food that the Collectors could not find, meaning he also left his dwelling at night. And he took the newchild with him."

Lily was surprised that Jonas would ever do such a thing, and confused as to why. He had a good life here, with his important Assignment and family. And why did he take away Gabe? He was supposed to be released—Father had said so. Release wasn't something to be feared.

Stirs of talk gradually filled up the Auditorium. People were talking, glancing over at where Father, Mother, the Receiver, and even Lily herself sat. Lily blinked, looking left and right to the to-be Nines on either side of her. Every one of them looked straight back at her.

"Why did Jonas leave?" Asked one, a male named Felix.

"Yes, and what about the newchild that was staying with you?" Said another. "What was his name, Gabriel? Why is he gone?"

"I don't know!" Lily told them all. "Jonas left a note promising that he'd be back this morning, and that he'd only gone out early for a ride on his bicycle."

"Lily!" Mother was calling, moving through the assembly to reach her. Lily jumped up and pushed through the rows, quickly tossing apologies behind her to those she knocked against. Lily flew into her mother's arms, hiding her face from the crowd.

"Is Jonas really gone?" She asked. "Won't they send out people to look for him?"

"I hope so," Mother replied sadly. "But if he really did take Gabriel away and break all those rules, he may have to be released."

Lily nodded. She understood. The rules were the rules.

Suddenly a shout rang through the hall. A tall male had risen to his feet across the Auditorium and was pointing an accusing finger at where the Receiver sat with his head bowed. Lily blinked—that was extremely rude of him to do that.

"What does the Receiver have to say about this?" Cried the male. Lily thought she recognized him as one of the Laborers. "He was the one who trained Jonas."

"Of course!" Added another. It was a Nurturer who still held a newchild in her arms, but she stood up regardless. "That newchild was scheduled for release. They could have planned a way to make us give him to a family unit."

All of a sudden, Lily felt a strange flash of something inside her. It was a new feeling, one she'd never experienced before. It was similar to the irritation she felt sometimes when someone broke the rules. A word formulated in her mind, naming this sensation _anger._

And she _was _angry! Jonas had taken away Gabe, who she'd liked so much. Around her, the yelling escalated, but she didn't mind anymore. The newfound anger was filling up her mind.

* * *

The Giver felt frozen in his chair. The crowd had turned on him, shouting accusations. 

"He helped him escape!"

"The two of them were planning this all along!"

"It's his fault!"

The Giver bowed his head, fear and sadness inside him. He knew already why the community had become like this: the memories Jonas was trailing behind him were returning to the people, and anger would be known to them.

The Chief Elder called out for silence. The crowd quieted, and she said, "The Council of Elders will deliberate on this matter. I apologize for making you feel insecure, Receiver."

The Giver gave her a reluctant nod. He could not be certain of the future that awaited him. The Council would discuss the matter and decide on his fate.

He sighed, sitting back in his chair, ignoring everyone else. "First Rosemary, then Jonas," he murmured. "Now me."

* * *

It had been three nights since Jonas had left, and they still hadn't found him. Lily rolled over in her bed, for the first time in a long time wishing for her comfort object, the stuffed elephant. The elephant's memory triggered something in her mind, but it was like trying to hold onto a vague dream: every time you reached out for it, it merely drifted away. She couldn't sleep because of it. 

Lily, frustrated, crawled out of bed and went over to the shelf where her comfort object had once sat. A memory came back to her of when Jonas had suggested that the creatures called _elephants _had once existed. Ha! Lily let out a little giggle. She stretched up on her toes and brushed the bare shelf with her fingertips.

Quite suddenly her mind was filled with a strange, unfamiliar, and very vivid image. A monstrously large animal was bleeding from many small wounds on its legs. It was taller than a dwelling, or even two dwellings, and its thick, lined skin hung in folds around its eyes. Two long flaps dangled on either side of the great beast's head, and a trunk hung over his mouth, between two long, curved tusks.

_An elephant!_

The mighty creature roared in pain, and Lily first saw the people swarming around it, keeping a safe distance away, and pointing long poles at the elephant, poles that made loud banging noises and shot smoke. Finally, with an enormous cry, it fell to its side, unmoving. The males were upon it in seconds, cutting the skin around the smooth tusks until they were completely severed from the body. They carried them away in odd-looking vehicles.

Lily almost cried out as the elephant had done, so great was the fear inside her. But the vision wasn't over. A second elephant appeared from the shelter of tall, broad-canopied trees and crouched beside the still elephant, caressing its face with its trunk, laying a few of the trees' branches across its head and flank. It raised its head and let out a terrible cry of deep feeling. She subconsciously was aware of the word _anguish. _

Then the vision faded, leaving her trembling.

"Jonas wasn't making fun of me," she whispered to herself. "He told me the truth."

Somewhere inside her, the Nine knew that this vision was somehow connected to Jonas and his training. Her mind was distraught with wild thoughts, scared thoughts: how had Jonas endured it? Was this why he'd left?

* * *

The Council had decided yesterday. 

After a very lengthy talk, they had approached the Giver in his room and told him of what would happen. Due to the enormous problems they had endured for the past two Receivers of Memory, they had reasoned that eliminating the Assignment completely was the most logical and practical solution. There would be no more Receivers. The Giver was scheduled for release in a day.

He sat alone in his study amongst the books, thinking of all that was in them. He had never read every single volume there, but he had read many, some more than once. There were incredible stories in there: tales of death and darkness, grandeur and myth, fantasy, fiction, legend, fact, truth, lies, friendship, mercy, light, love…the list would go ever onwards. And so many of them dealt with death. His story would join those, but it would be remembered by the people under the shallow veiling name of _release._

Admittedly, the Giver had known what was going to happen to him. His predicament mirrored that of those who broke the rules.

There was no third chance.

* * *

Day dawned, and the Giver could only recognize its pale splendor from his few remaining memories. A little bit of color had come back to him, and he perceived pale rose and gold as he exited the Annex and began to walk down the path. He was tired and weary, but he continued down the path that went to the river's edge and looked down into the waters he knew should be blue-gray-black. He stood like that for a while, not moving, thinking of…well, thinking of everything in the world. And most of all he pondered death, or release, but it was the same thing. He wondered if he'd see Rosemary again. 

His eyes were sleepy: he'd spent most of the night writing. He had taken many sheets of pale paper and some writing utensils and had written and written until all the truths of the world were recorded. He had written all he could remember, all his memories, the names of the colors, the names of things like _hills _and _snow._ He had opened his books and copied down passages from them, passages that illustrated things like _love _and _bravery _and _hate._And at the bottom, in fine, curling letters, he'd written his name. The Giver's hand traveled down to his pocket, where the many sheets of paper were curled into a thick scroll tied with a yellow ribbon.

After a while, he heard footsteps behind him. "Come with us, Receiver," said one gently: a Caretaker of the Old. She took his arm in one hand, leading him back up the path to the House of the Old.

"Will I have a ceremony?" The Giver asked dully.

"Not today, sorry," she replied cheerfully. "The Council wants this done as quickly and painlessly as possible. Anyway, we wouldn't want to wake the Old so early now, would we?" She let out a light laugh.

The Giver hoisted a false smile onto his face. The Caretaker opened the door and led him down a long hall and into a small room. A syringe lay on a tabletop. There was one window in the room, small, and a girl stood next to it, looking curious and nervous. The Giver thought he saw a flicker of red in her hair.

The Caretaker picked up the syringe and filled it with a genuinely colorless liquid. Moving to his left side, she rolled up his sleeve and beckoned the girl to come closer.

"Fiona," said the Giver, and she started, looking up at the old man. "Jonas told me about you."

She smiled, nodding, and looked back at the Caretaker. The Caretaker inhaled deeply, and adjusted her fingers around the syringe.

"Wait a moment." The Giver took a deep breath. "May I?"

The Caretaker looked startled, but obliged, giving him the syringe. The Giver's eyes traveled to the window, where the sun was throwing its shining rays across the entire world. "Rosemary," he said simply.

A flash of glass, a little droplet of blood…and a single tear trickled down the Giver's face and shattered on the floor.

* * *

"Katharine?" 

The girl looked up. Her mother was standing in the doorway, and she walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes?" Katharine blinked, wondering what her mother wanted.

"There was a man who was released today. He used to be very important." Her mother looked uncomfortable. Her fingers twitched.

"What about him?" Katharine asked. She was a Seven now, and could tell when her mother was feeling nervous or upset about something.

"He—well, he left something for you." She placed her hand inside a pocket and pulled out a heavy scroll of paper tied with a broad ribbon. As her mother's hand brought it upwards, Katharine thought she saw a flash of…something on the strip of cloth, but a second later it was completely normal again.

"What is it?" Katharine asked eagerly, fingering the end of the ribbon, and then taking the rolled-up papers in her hands. She had recently learned to read, and she enjoyed exercising her new talent.

"I don't know. There was a note attached to it, Kathie—it said that you and only you were to read it. That means the man didn't want anyone else to know what it said. So you can't tell me or any of your friends what it says."

"Why?"

"He was very important. You have to respect his wishes, especially now that he's been released."

"Oh. All right." Katharine turned the scroll over in her hands, and saw her name written on the side. Untying the ribbon, she opened the papers, and saw magnificently long paragraphs and sentences…there were over ten papers here! Maybe even twenty! She pulled out the last page, and saw a signature at the bottom. It was written in beautiful, swirly letters, and they seemed different too, as the ribbon had. But this time, the flickering change remained constant, and she perceived _black._

"Can you read it well?" Her mother asked.

"Yes," Katharine replied, staring at the final words.

_The Giver._


End file.
